Cities and towns are getting new street signs

In deference to a generation of baby boomers approaching old age, the federal government has ordered all street signs to have ultra-reflective and larger lettering by 2012.

Sydney Schwartz

In case you think your vision is improving, sorry. It’s street signs that are getting better.

In deference to baby boomers approaching old age, the federal government has ordered all street signs to have ultra-reflective and larger lettering by 2012.

Capital letters must be 6 inches tall and lower-case letters 4.5 inches, according to the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

“Signs need to be not only reflective, but they need to be retro-reflective,” meaning they stay brighter longer, Doug Hecox, spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, said.

Hecox said new rules were adopted in 2002 to improve nighttime visibility and legibility of street signs, as the number of older drivers increases.

“We have more older drivers now than we’ve ever had,” Hecox said. “This is a way to ensure that we have better drivers with better nighttime visual cues. It’s really a safety device at the end of the day and should improve nighttime driving.”

The Federal Highway Administration gave states 15 years to bring highway signs into compliance and 10 years to bring local signs into compliance, Hecox said.

In Pembroke, Bob Demers, assistant director of public works, said the new street sign designs are going up as signs need to bereplaced.

The newer signs have also been seen in other Massachusetts towns. “When you drive around, you’ll see other towns already have them,” he said.

Signs cost about $100 each, Demers said. Towns are paying for them with yearly state aid for highways.